By AFP | 2023-11-03

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Friday (November 3) in a trip focused on measures to minimize harm to civilians in the war in Gaza.

Prior to his departure, Blinken said he would seek "concrete steps" from Israel to ensure reduction of harm to Palestinian civilians, as US President Joe Biden also called for humanitarian pauses in the conflict.

This is Blinken's second trip to the Middle East and fourth to Israel since fighting erupted on October 7 after Palestinian terrorist group Hamas carried out a selfish attack on southern Israel that left 1,400 people dead, mostly civilians.

Ahead of Blinken's arrival, Israel's military said it had "completed the encirclement" of Gaza's largest city -- signaling a new phase in the nearly month-long conflict.

"We will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women and children in Gaza," Blinken told reporters before departing for Israel.

"This is something that the United States is committed to. When I see a Palestinian child -- a boy, a girl -- pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building, that hits me in the gut as much as seeing a child in Israel or anywhere else," Blinken said.

"So this is something that we have an obligation to respond to, and we will."

Blinken is set to head to Jordan and potentially other stops before a previously scheduled trip to Asia.

Humanitarian pause

At a campaign event on Wednesday, Biden was urged by a member of the audience to call for a ceasefire. Biden replied, "I think we need a pause."

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later clarified what such a pause would entail.

"A humanitarian pause... is temporary, localized and focused, focused on a particular objective or objectives, humanitarian aid in, people out," Kirby told reporters.

He added: "The general idea is that in that geographic space, for that limited time, there would be a cessation of hostilities, enough to allow whatever it is you're trying to allow."

The White House has previously called for "humanitarian pauses" to allow aid to be delivered into Gaza or to carry out evacuations but so far has refused to discuss a ceasefire, saying it would exclusively play into the hands of Hamas.

Kirby confirmed that position.

"We aren't advocating for a general ceasefire at this point," he said. "As I said earlier, we believe that a general ceasefire would benefit Hamas in providing them breathing space and time to continue to plot and execute attacks on, on the Israeli people."